Monday, 1 August 2016

WPC 2016 Wrap-Up

So another great WPC came to a close and we all caught our breath. These events are a whirlwind of activity, meetings, sessions and fun with over 800 UK attendees this year making it one of their biggest events ever. Even though there wasn't any major announcements there is a flurry of activities going on at Microsoft and how these proliferate down to the channel. The message around cloud and CSP was louder than ever and the transition away from other traditional licensing business models such as open and EA was very clear.

The event itself was hosted in Toronto and as this was my first visit I’m always comparing against..

the other cities it’s held in and I found it very easy to get around and also the free ice creams offered walking from the keynotes back to the sessions very welcome in the warm temperatures! One of the highlights from our perspective was winning an award from the Microsoft and HP partnership was for solutions that we have provided around the HP Aruba offering and Microsoft Cloud services. This was held way up in the CN Tower where there are stunning views of the city. If you are ever there, then well worth the trip up.

In summary, a great event, bigger than ever and very worthwhile. If you have ever sat on the fence about whether you should / shouldn’t go then let me say now. If you are in the Microsoft partner community and selling MS services then you absolutely need to be there, you’ll pick up so much and make some great new relationships. I know I did and it’s my 4th one! Hope to see you next year in Washington.

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